1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to optical sensing, and more particularly to optically sensing the presence of a sheet of paper in a fax machine's paper tray into which incoming faxes are placed.
2. Statement of Related Art
In many business offices, individuals spend most of their time in a location from which they can not see whether an incoming facsimile transmission ("fax") has been received. In order to check whether any faxes have been received, such individuals must go to the fax machine's location and look to see whether a fax has been received. This leads to two undesirable results. First, a received fax can go unnoticed for an undesirably long period of time. This problem was recently portrayed in a popular movie in which the President of the United States' plane, Air Force One, is hijacked and the President faxes a desperate plea for help, which is successfully received, but no one notices that the fax has been received.
The second undesirable result of someone having a remotely located fax machine is that, when someone is expecting a fax that person may have to go to the fax machine several times to check whether the fax has been received.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an indication at a location remote from a fax machine that a fax has been received.